Oud at the Sydney Opera House
About a month ago, the latest project by oud virtuoso Joseph Tawadros Live at Sydney Opera House (ABC Classics/Universal 2020) came out. The musical innovator this time combined his oud with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor Benjamin Northey, with James Tawadros on percussions. The album was recorded live in 2019 and brought to audiences this summer.
For the lovers of original music and Tawadros’ world each one of his new projects is a door opening to a new universe. You never know what company the maestro will play with this time. And so this year we get to experience him not with world renowned jazz musicians, but with a whole symphony.
The album included original pieces by Joseph Tawadros and starts off with an oud concert and a symphony in three pieces. What follows is compositions from other albums in a new arrangement, leading up to the grand finale dedicated to Istanbul - Constantinople.
Like always the music is very emotional, dramatic, with sudden turns from melancholy to highly rhythmical parts.
Music that can’t be counted towards any specific genre - for some it would be classical, for others avant-garde, for us - this is the music of the 21st century. Music that is a lot more different from some of Tawadros’ older projects, that you can read up on here.
And today we let ourselves get spirited away from his latest project, where the multifaceted sound of the oud meets the powerful support of the symphony in two pieces:
And the finale – Constantinople.
August 2020
Photo ©МА
